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Two Directions for Teleology: Naturalism and Idealism

Cooper, Andrew

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Authors

Andrew Cooper



Abstract

Philosophers of biology claim that function talk is consistent with naturalism. Yet recent work in biology places new pressure on this claim. An increasing number of biologists propose that the existence of functions depends on the organisation of systems. While systems are part of the domain studied by physics, they are capable of interacting with this domain through organising principles. This is to say that a full account of biological function requires teleology. Does naturalism preclude reference to teleological causes? Or are organised systems precisely a naturalised form of teleology? In this paper I suggest that the biology of organised systems reveals several contradictions in the main philosophical conceptions of naturalism. To integrate organised systems with naturalism’s basic assumptions—that there is no theory-independent view for metaphysics, and that nature is intelligible—I propose an idealist solution.

Citation

Cooper, A. (2018). Two Directions for Teleology: Naturalism and Idealism. Synthese, 195(7), 3097-3119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-017-1364-5

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 1, 2017
Online Publication Date Mar 9, 2017
Publication Date Jul 1, 2018
Deposit Date Mar 3, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Synthese
Print ISSN 0039-7857
Electronic ISSN 1573-0964
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 195
Issue 7
Pages 3097-3119
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-017-1364-5

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